1959–60 Burnley F.C. season

The 1959–60 campaign was Burnley's 61st season in the Football League, and their 13th consecutive season in the First Division, since promotion from the Second Division in 1946–47. The team had finished the 1958–59 season in seventh place and had reached the sixth round of the FA Cup. Burnley ended the campaign with 8 wins out of 13 in the league, and approached the new season with confidence. The club's chairman, Bob Lord, was elected to the position in 1955. Lord only appointed managers with a previous playing career at the club; he selected Harry Potts for the post in February 1958. Burnley had become one of the most progressive clubs under Lord, who was described by the scriptwriter Arthur Hopcraft as "the Khrushchev of Burnley" as a result of his authoritarian attitude. Burnley were one of the first to set up a purpose-built training ground (at Gawthorpe in 1955), which included a medical room, a gymnasium, three full-size pitches and an all-weather surface. The club also became renowned for its youth policy and scouting system. Burnley's scouts—including Jack Hixon—focused particularly on North East England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. (2007 photograph) was an admirer of Burnley's playing style.|alt=A headshot of a former footballer During matches, Potts often employed the then unfashionable 4–4–2 formation and he implemented a Total Football playing style. Billy Wright of Wolverhampton Wanderers described Burnley's playing style as "progressing [from defense to attack] by nicely controlled patterns with every man searching hungrily for space". Jimmy Greaves labelled the team's style of play as "smooth, skilled football that was a warming advertisement for all that was best about British football". Potts made no major additions to his squad during pre-season, Albert Cheesebrough (to Leicester City for £20,000), Doug Newlands (to Stoke City for £12,000) and Les Shannon (retired) left the club. On 17 August 1959, the team played a pre-season friendly against Glentoran, which was organised as part of Elder's transfer. Burnley defeated their opponents 8–1, with Jimmy Robson scoring four times. Burnley's kit remained unchanged from the previous seasons: a claret jersey with light blue sleeves, a light blue stripe around the collar, and white shorts along with claret and light blue socks. == First Division ==

August to December Burnley's First Division campaign began with a 3–2 win over Leeds United at Elland Road on 22 August, with goals from Brian Pilkington, John Connelly, and Ray Pointer. Ahead of Burnley's first home match of the season at Turf Moor against Everton, Potts wrote in the club's matchday programme: "We pride ourselves on being a footballing team and no club can be more eager to meet the demand for better play". The team defeated Everton 5–2, but then lost 3–1 at home to West Ham United, despite taking the lead through Connelly. Burnley lost the fixture 1–0 but Elder played well against Preston's England international Tom Finney and remained in the starting line-up. Both sides were missing key players—Spurs were without Dave Mackay and Danny Blanchflower, while McIlroy, Burnley's playmaker, was still absent. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, after defender Brian Miller equalised for Burnley in the 87th minute. Burnley then faced Lancashire rivals Blackpool at home; Burnley took the lead through Robson but the visitors scored four goals to win 4–1. Before the East Lancashire derby at Blackburn Rovers on 17 October, Potts received criticism from the Burnley supporters who objected to his "confusing playing style", such as the defenders switching positions during matches. Against Blackburn, Burnley equalised twice, but the hosts scored a third goal to win 3–2. On 7 November, Burnley defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1 at Turf Moor; Wolves were the First Division champions of the previous two seasons. The team kept their first clean sheet of the season, With McIlroy absent, Burnley hosted last-place Leeds United on 19 December in front of a season-lowest crowd of 17,398. Leeds won 1–0 and Burnley slipped down from third to fourth place in the table, three points behind leaders Tottenham. January to May The team's first match of 1960 resulted in a 5–2 victory away at title contenders West Ham. The Sunday Pictorial concluded: "If they go on playing like this they'll soon have nobody above them". Burnley then defeated Chelsea 2–1 on a snowy Turf Moor pitch and drew 0–0 with West Brom to end January in second place in the table. On 1 March, the team recorded a 2–0 home win over league leaders Tottenham to close the gap to three points, but with two games in hand on Spurs. The following game, at home against Sheffield Wednesday, ended in a 3–3 draw after Miller equalised for Burnley in the 88th minute. Potts moved Adamson to the centre-half position to partner Cummings, while Miller was placed in midfield. The team recorded three consecutive wins: Forest and Leicester City were both defeated 1–0, while Burnley beat Luton 3–0 despite only having 10 men for most of the game, after Pointer came off injured. Connelly scored the winning goal against Leicester, his 20th league goal of the season, but picked up a cartilage injury during the match and was out for the remainder of the season; he was replaced by Trevor Meredith. Blacklaw returned in goal for the match against Birmingham City on 27 April, while Cummings, McIlroy and Miller also played despite having minor injuries; Burnley won 1–0 after a late goal from Pilkington. Burnley were crowned First Division champions for the second time, and won their first top flight title in 39 years. The Daily Mirror noted: "Burnley, the team of quiet men—five of them are part-timers and the whole outfit cost less than £15,000—snatched the First Division Championship from the teeth of the famous Wolves". The team won the title with one of the lowest post-war point tallies (55), one of the smallest goal averages (1.39), and one of the highest numbers of goals conceded (61). Match results ;Key • In result column, Burnley's score shown first • H = Home match • A = Away match • pen. = Penalty kick • o.g. = Own goal ;Results Source: ==FA Cup==

at a very muddy Valley Parade pitch (2008 photograph).|alt=A photograph of the inside of a football stadium Burnley entered the season's FA Cup in the third round where they were drawn away against Second Division side Lincoln City; the game finished in a 1–1 draw, necessitating a replay at Turf Moor. Although not fully fit, McIlroy returned in the starting line-up and opened the scoring from the penalty spot. He provided the assist for Pilkington's headed goal to lead Burnley to a 2–0 victory and qualification for the fourth round. The team faced mid-table Second Division side Swansea Town at Vetch Field and drew 0–0; the Swansea manager Trevor Morris was confident and stated: "We'll win the replay". At Turf Moor, Robson scored twice to put Burnley 2–0 ahead, before Swansea's Mel Nurse halved the lead in the 83rd minute. The team held on to the lead to set up a fifth-round fixture with Third Division side Bradford City, who were undefeated in 18 matches. City's Valley Parade pitch was very muddy, which hindered Burnley in their passing game, and City took a 2–0 lead. With ten minutes remaining, Connelly dribbled through the Bradford defence and put the ball past their goalkeeper. He scored his second goal in injury time to salvage a replay for Burnley, following a scramble in City's penalty area. The replay took place three days later at Turf Moor, in front of an official attendance of 52,850. Some of the gates were broken down, however, and many uncounted fans poured into the ground. The road from Bradford was closed due to the traffic, and numerous Bradford City and Burnley supporters were denied entry by the local police. On an icy Turf Moor pitch, Burnley ran out 5–0 winners and advanced to the sixth round. Blackburn advanced to the final where they lost 3–0 to Wolves. Match results ;Key • In result column, Burnley's score shown first • H = Home match • A = Away match • pen. = Penalty kick • o.g. = Own goal ;Results Source: == Player details ==

Potts used only 18 different players in the First Division during the season, the lowest number in the division. Gordon Harris made just two appearances for Burnley in the First Division, while Billy Marshall and Furnell featured in only one league match during the campaign. Connelly was the top goalscorer for Burnley with 24 goals, including 20 in the league. With a tally of 23 goals, Pointer was the second-highest scorer, followed by Robson with 22; both players also scored four goals in the FA Cup. Connelly, Pointer and Robson scored two-thirds of the club's 85 league goals. GK = |Goalkeeper, DF = |Defender, MF = |Midfielder, FW = |Forward Source: == Minor competitions ==

Lancashire Cup Burnley also participated in the local Lancashire Cup, although their starting line-ups consisted primarily of reserve and youth players. Burnley beat their first opponents Bayern Munich 3–0 through goals from Pointer, Pilkington and Miller. The team then drew 3–3 with home side New York Americans before defeating Northern Irish club Glenavon 6–2, with Pilkington scoring a hat-trick. In their final group match, Burnley faced French club Nice, who had won four Ligue 1 titles during the 1950s, most recently in 1958–59. Burnley defeated Nice 4–0 and finished as runners-up in the group behind Kilmarnock, who advanced to the final but lost against Brazilian side Bangu. Match results ;Key • In result column, Burnley's score shown first • H = Home match • A = Away match • N = Neutral match • pen. = Penalty kick • o.g. = Own goal ;Results Source: == Aftermath ==

Bobby Seith, who had been placed on the transfer list by the club, Although he had made 27 First Division appearances during the season, Burnley's championship-winning team remained intact going into the 1960–61 season and was strengthened with reserve and youth players such as Joyce and Lochhead. Burnley would go on to compete in six different competitions the following season—the First Division, the FA Cup, the newly created Football League Cup, the FA Charity Shield, the European Cup and the Lancashire Cup. ==Notes==